If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Not sure if this belongs here, but my wife and I want to put a will together, mostly so the kids go to the right one of Karen's sisters if we both die. We're not sure where to start. Legal zoom has will stuff but we think maybe having an actual lawyer work on it might be the better option. Has anyone else tried to do a will?

Do you have a lawyer friend? If so they probably have a standard format, you'll fill in some blanks, they'll print several copies. Then buy your buddy some booze and go on your way. <-- That's what I did.

If you don't have a lawyer friend maybe start with legalzoo so you have some basics nailed down, and maybe that makes the lawyers job easier? <-- I'm making this up. You can probably call a lawyer and they'll tell you how it works & what it costs.

The important thing is that you have a clear plan established, that plan is clearly documented, and all parties involved are clearly informed. As long as no one disputes the will, it's clear, and it's legal then you should be fine. IMPORTANT: This also means several people/places have a copy of your will. If you die and the only copy is burned up with the ashes of your corpses then it doesn't make a lick of difference.

Other things to consider...
1) dole out the funds by % or $
2) does the caretaker get all the money?
3) do your kids have a trust set aside?
4) what if the sister dies?
5) clarify who the beneficiary of your life insurance should be
6) separate from your will you may want a Living Will for each of you ... actually here's a good list of documents to make end of life planning easier... https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/15/12-f...life-care.html

It's a tough subject that no one wants to talk about, but the older I get and the more people I see die, the more convinced I am that if we all talked about it more it would be a lot easier. My wife's parents, aunts, & uncles on both sides are still holding grudges about the death of parents and distribution of possessions.

I play the credit card game, so let me chip in with my personal experience.

I maintain a little table that I update every quarter to remind me which card to use for each category.

Ahhhh! Yeah. I kind of figured. I'd have to do more math to figure out how much I stand to save/earn by incorporating more cards into my "routine," but honestly something tells me the number's so low it isn't worth the extra juggling act.

Anybody ever tried to close an old online account at a financial services company? I've got two open accounts with companies who no longer hold my assets. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I figured it's safer to close that online access since I no longer monitor it regularly. So far it seems difficult because people don't seem to understand what I'm asking.

When my YHOO 401k moved from Vanguard to Fidelity (and became a VZW 401k in the process), I discovered that my old account was still there, still working fine, and actually contained a not-insignificant amount of money $0.01 for me to add to my portfolio. So to answer your question, no, I have not tried to close an old online account at a financial services company. If they're making it difficult, you might consider just blanking out your personal info, changing the password to something incomprehensible, and forgetting about it.

... you might consider just blanking out your personal info, changing the password to something incomprehensible, and forgetting about it.

I'm less concerned about my account being hacked than the company being hacked. I thought about "blanking" my account, but I think I'm limited on the number of fields I can actually change and I can't delete my old statements from their system so there's still a lot of data available. Like I said, it's probably paranoid but I'd rather have one LESS account out there available to hacking.

Plus it's still an active account, so someone could control it then do something where they transfer money in/out and somehow incur fines or fees for which I could be liable. :shrug:

Beware that most investment firms will charge $75 (or thereabout) fee to transfer and close a brokerage account. So often times you're better off leaving the account open with $0.01 in it. Or at least, transfer most of your money out before closing it and hope they just eat the fee. Here's a useful list.

Something that could have been brought to my attention yesterday! Or several months ago. These accounts were already zero balance, I think I did pay a fee, fuckers. However, at this point I just wanted the online access deleted, I don't think they can charge me for that. Or if they do, good luck collecting because they don't have any of my funds.

I track my credit card payments every month, in a big spreadsheet. I have a graph with that number on one line, and another line tracking the 6-month moving average.

This doesn't include stuff like mortgage and HOA payments, insurance payments, trips to Costco, and anything else that uses a check or debit card... but most of those expenses are fixed, so the credit card graph is a pretty good indication of month-to-month spending.

When my wife moved to the country and we got married (beginning of 2017) the "moving average" began a rapid, massive escalation. Up to roughly triple where it had been in the end of 2016, with the average approaching my all-time peak monthly payment (when I replaced all the windows on my condo, and paid for it on my card).

I panicked, tried to pop the balloon and cut some spending... then my wife finally got a job (after about a year of fiddling around with the immigration process)... and in the past six months, things are getting back down to a reasonable level.

In the next month or two, provided there are no unexpected financial disasters, I should be able to drag that moving average down to its lowest level in 18 months.